Lifesaving crew spend
hundreds of hours at sea

HASTINGS lifeboat crew spent almost 200 hours at sea last year according to figures released by the RNLI.

Crew members carried out 38 launches, and assisted 20 people in the course of their duties.

The charity’s annual statistics show that crew members at stations around the coast of Sussex and Hampshire launched their lifeboats a total of 990 times in 2011, assisting 1,054 people.

The number of rescue launches equates to a total of 6,188 hours spent on service by lifeboats.

The RNLI relies on voluntary contributions and donations for its life-saving efforts, and the charity is in need of £46,500 to fund replacement life jackets for crew members at the 15 stations in Sussex and Hampshire.